15 Facts About William Courten

Sir William Courten or Curteen was a wealthy 17th century merchant, operating from London.

William Courten financed the colonisation of Barbados, but lost his investment and interest in the islands to the Earl of Carlisle.

Sir William Courten was the son of William Courten, by his wife Margaret Casiere, and was born in London in 1572.

At an early age Courten was sent to Haarlem, as factor to his father's firm, and the younger brother, Peter, went to Cologne.

At Haarlem, William Courten married the deaf and dumb daughter of Peter Cromling, a Dutch merchant there, which brought him a dowry of £60,000.

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About 1600 William Courten returned to London, and Peter remained as his agent in Holland, but paid his brother frequent visits.

William Courten's operations were not confined to his London business: he built ships and traded to Guinea, Portugal, Spain, and the West Indies.

William Courten sent two ships with 1850 persons on board to Barbadoes, under Captain Powel, who, on his arrival, was nominated governor by Courten and the Earl of Pembroke; but the speculation proved disastrous.

William Courten claimed to have lost £44,000 by these transactions, and left his descendants to claim compensation.

William Courten was one of Moncy's executors, and Peter Boudean, his stepson, was the other.

William Courten left many legacies to charitable institutions in his will; but his joint claims with Sir Paul Pindar on the crown, and his claims on his nephew and on Lord Carlisle, were unsettled at the time of his death.

William Courten had a son, Peter, by his first wife, who was made a baronet by James I in 1622 ; married Jane, daughter of Sir John Stanhope, and died without issue early in 1625.

William Courten married Catharine Egerton, daughter of John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater; and, resolving to carry on his father's business, chartered with his father-in-law's aid, two vessels for trade in the East Indies.

William Courten's landed estates were alienated to his brother-in-law, the Earl of Kent, and William Courten retired to Italy.

William Courten's wife endeavoured in vain to come to terms with Peter Boudean, and finally joined her husband, who died intestate at Florence in 1655.